Just in case you think you have a non eventful life, here’s something to make you feel much better about yourself!
Both of my dogs are shedding like crazy right now. It’s their season for it, Zion especially because his puppy coat is coming off. So I decided to vacuum with my new nifty thrifty Bissell vacuum cleaner we got at Costco, (the one with the little canister you take out and dump instead of a bag). As I went to take out the canister– KAPOOOOOF!! Up pops a giant ball of hair, like some jack in the box or something, spewing allergens and toxic who-knows-what into the air in a big disgusting cloud. (I guess it got a little too full). I cleaned up the mess and set out to continue my work, but no, now the beater-brush was all buggered up with fur. (You’ve had these days, haven’t you!) Wouldn’t you assume that there was just a lever or something to release it? Oooh no… This took the removal of not 2 or 4, but 6 screws, because the doggone thing was designed by somebody in China who didn’t think so far as to anyone ever needing to actually clean the beater-brush of their vacuum cleaner. So I clean the beater brush….. re-install not 2 or 4, but 6 screws…….scrub out all filters and various parts….reassemble everything…..and I looked up at Mike, (who was laying on the couch working on his laptop) after about an hour of this, and asked him “when you think; ‘vacuum the house’, do you imagine this amount of work?” He just looked at me from over his readers. But I mean seriously!
Welcome to the next morning! I wake up thinking about the lunch plans we have with some friends of Mike’s; Steve and Debbie Taylor. It’s a lunch I look forward too, because I’ve met them before and genuinely enjoyed their company. Steve is somewhat of a celebrity, and many people would be very honored at the chance to have lunch with him. So I hop out of bed, and glance in the mirror on my way to the bathroom. YIKES!! Staring back at me was a face that looked like …well, a little like Zion, my chow dog, all puffy but without fur! It’s CUTE on HIM, but not on ME! I looked like I’d either been beat up real good or had cried myself to sleep. Anyway, I was mortified by what all the dust from my adventures in vacuuming had done to me. But the day was waiting, so I took some Sudafed and put an ice pack on my face for a half hour. It helped a little. Then some make up..(where’s that stuff that tightens the skin real good…ah there it is”, and boy am I glad I wear glasses that darken in the light!” To further camouflage my face, I did my hair in that conveniently fashionable “long bangs in the face, so you’re hiding behind them” look, and off we went. It was a nice lunch, although I don’t really remember much of it, I was so foggy-brained from my swollen face. When we got home I took some Claritin, which only served to make me nauseous and put me to sleep.
After a nap, I felt quite a bit better and I actually had energy for doggie walk, which I was happy about, but then I proceeded feeling crummy again a little bit after we got home. It all got me to thinking about toxic stuff in our houses, and how much it really effects us and we don’t know it. Hmmm… Wrote on shopping list: “buy filter face mask before vacuuming downstairs”.
Saturday I took down the “eu-de-80’s” bright brass chandeliers in the dining and kitchen nook and spray painted them bronze…kind of an antiq-ie bronze. (this is a lot easier than you’d think! You simply run back and forth to your fuse box about a dozen times until you’ve turned off the right fuse, then get on a ladder and untangle the knot of wires in the ceiling and pull it down. Pay attention to what wires go to where (black to black, white to white, pretty simple), take apart, spray paint, dry, then follow instructions in reverse! Voile!) So much improved! The miracle of a little spray paint!
On Saturday I also bought Mike a BBQ that I found on Craig’s list for $25 bucks. (what a deal!) It had a broken hinge. So I got out my trusty MIGHTY PUTTY (as seen on TV!) and put it back together again. … let this serve as a public service announcement; Mighty Putty does not endure high temperatures. The lid broke off with an ear splitting “clang!” as the coals heated up. Back to the drawing board. <:o| Never to be foiled, I’m redoing it with wire reinforcement …I should have thought of that in the first place, you use wire reinforcements in any heavy sculpture work, right?
Mike called. Said his car had a boot on it. “MY car has a boot on it!?” “WHY does MY CAR have a boot on it?!” Well, he had parked in an area where they used the ‘honor system’ for people to pay their fee, he explained. “Don’t tell me…” The man is 61 years old, people! How can a man still be a rebel at 61? He can tell that I am irritated and he says his typical “I know, I know”, and mumbles something about getting off the phone. I let him know that I would rather not know the outcome of this.
This concludes today’s ramblings. If you’d like me to build you a blog site to post yours, feel free to drop me a line!